THOMAS & MACK CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV — After a 19-point blowout loss to the Sacramento Kings just two days prior, the Golden State Warriors found themselves in a 13-point hole early on against the same Kings in the first round of the 2015 NBA Summer League playoff tournament.
The Kings’ athletic frontline of No. 6 draft pick Willie Cauley-Stein, Eric Moreland, Julyan Stone, and CJ Leslie was out-hustling the less-bouncy tandem of James Michael McAdoo and Stefan Nastic.
On one play, Leslie completely engulfed the equally-athletic-yet-shorter Dominique Sutton for an offensive rebound. The Warriors looked like the inferior team once again, liable to get blown out for the second time in 48 hours, and found themselves down by 13 points late in the first frame after David Stockton (yes, son of the great John Stockton) stole a bad pass from Aqeel Quinn and converted a layup.
Stockton later got fouled near the end of the opening quarter, missed the second free throw, and with just 4.9 seconds remaining, Warriors power forward Dominique Sutton grabbed the miss and went for a Draymond Green-like coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer, pulling Golden State to a respectable 27-18 deficit.
That seemed to spark the Warriors, who played with more energy starting in the second quarter.
“When you feel like you’ve been outplayed — and we had missed seven free throws already by halftime — only being down six points (at halftime), it’s a momentum builder,” said Warriors’ summer league head coach, Luke Walton.
Combined with a bevy of Kings miscues such as throwing the ball into a Golden State player’s hands for a turnover on multiple occasions, as well as Cauley-Stein limping to the bench with a banged up knee, the Warriors turned 11 Sacramento turnovers into 13 points and climbed back.
The Golden State summer league team was utilizing its NBA regular season formula of turning defense into transition offense.
“It was a big emphasis that Luke was talking about in the locker room and as a leader of this team, me and Aaron, and the starting five, we just tried to go out there and set the tone,” said McAdoo. “We pride ourselves on defense, so to be able to do that was huge.”
First-round draft pick Kevon Looney showed off his versatile skillset, not only dribbling to the baseline, sticking his forearm out to create space, and stepping back for a nice fade-away, but also canning an elbow jumper and swishing a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
“He was great at recognizing when they were trying to keep our pick-and-rolls down and he would pop,” said Walton. “He was getting his hands on a lot of rebounds and today was probably his best all-around day, including practices and everything, since we’ve been out here. It was fun to watch.”
The Warriors had overcome the athleticism of the Kings, and then some.
“In summer league, you’ve got tons of guys that are athletes, guys that are really fighting hard for their livelihood,” McAdoo said. “Once we were able to match that, our skill and our ability just to play basketball so well, really came out.”
Said Looney, “We’re out here trying to win a championship, giving it our all.”
LeDontae Henton also got hot, while McAdoo was effective at the rim with pump fakes, getting to the line and converting free throws.
The Warriors got an unfathomable 17 consecutive stops in a row against the punchless Kings, who shot 1-for-18 in the third quarter, in a span stretching from the second to the third quarters.
“Incredible,” was how Walton described his team’s defensive play.
“We tell these guys we’ll be alright with the results as long as we compete,” said Walton. “They were talking, they were getting after it on the defensive end — an all-around great comeback after losing by twenty last game.”
By the time Henton caught an outlet in transition, stepped back, and drained a three-pointer, Golden State had turned that 13-point deficit into as much as a 23-point lead, and the Warriors had a stranglehold on the game and an insurmountable 79-58 bulge that ended with an 83-67 final score.
McAdoo led the way with 20 points on 6-for-13 field, 8-for-13 from the charity stripe, to go along with 9 rebounds, while Henton chipped in 18 points on 7-for-10 field, 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, plus 7 boards. Looney was impressive, tallying 11 points on 5-for-12 floor in only 20 minutes of play, while Chasson Randle buried two triples en route to a 9-point, 3-assist performance. Aaron Craft had a solid outing as the floor general, with 7 points on an efficient 3-for-6 field, 1-for-1 downtown, and 4 rebounds, 4 assists.
The 12th-seeded Warriors will face the 4th overall draft pick, Kristaps Porzingis, and the 5th-seeded New York Knicks on Thursday at 1:30PM PDT at Thomas & Mack.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
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